﻿110 
  GEOKGE 
  MAW'S 
  NOTES 
  ON 
  A 
  JOURNEY 
  

  

  2150 
  feet. 
  The 
  Arab 
  village 
  and 
  French 
  fortress 
  of 
  Boghar 
  is 
  

   situated 
  near 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  the 
  escarpment, 
  at 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  between 
  

   3000 
  and 
  4000 
  feet, 
  from 
  which 
  a 
  magnificent 
  view 
  is 
  obtained, 
  

   looking 
  north, 
  the 
  nearer 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Tell 
  plateau 
  are 
  seen, 
  capped 
  

   with 
  forests 
  of 
  Pinus 
  halepensis, 
  the 
  distance 
  being 
  bounded 
  by 
  the 
  

   summits 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Atlas. 
  In 
  a 
  southerly 
  direction, 
  the 
  great 
  

   level 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  Sahara 
  spreads 
  out 
  as 
  a 
  sea- 
  like 
  expanse, 
  

   bounded 
  on 
  the 
  southern 
  horizon 
  by 
  the 
  mammillated 
  chain 
  of 
  the 
  

   Djebel 
  Sahari, 
  the 
  curious 
  notched 
  outline 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  faintly 
  seen 
  

   in 
  the 
  extreme 
  distance. 
  The 
  level 
  plain 
  runs 
  up 
  amongst 
  the 
  out- 
  

   lying 
  spurs 
  of 
  the 
  Tell 
  plateau, 
  which 
  die 
  out 
  like 
  promontories 
  and 
  

   islands 
  resting 
  on 
  the 
  flat 
  expanse. 
  Prom 
  Boghar 
  we 
  look 
  directly 
  

   down 
  into 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  Cheliff, 
  which 
  rises 
  in 
  the 
  plain 
  of 
  

   the 
  Northern 
  Sahara 
  at 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  a 
  little 
  over 
  2000 
  feet. 
  It 
  is 
  

   the 
  most 
  important 
  river 
  in 
  Algeria. 
  Its 
  waters, 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  

   nearly 
  all 
  the 
  North- 
  African 
  rivers, 
  are 
  very 
  turbid. 
  It 
  first 
  flows 
  

   northward 
  through 
  a 
  winding 
  ditch-like 
  channel 
  between 
  high 
  banks 
  

   of 
  alluvium, 
  and 
  then 
  westward 
  into 
  the 
  Mediterranean 
  a 
  little 
  to 
  

   the 
  east 
  of 
  Oran. 
  In 
  the 
  alluvial 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Cheliff, 
  near 
  

   Boukhari, 
  Mr. 
  Tristram 
  found 
  some 
  Hippopotamus-bones. 
  The 
  

   species 
  was 
  not 
  determined, 
  and 
  the 
  specimens 
  have 
  unfortunately 
  

   been 
  lost. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  caravansary 
  of 
  Bou 
  Guezoul, 
  twelve 
  miles 
  south 
  of 
  

   Boukhari, 
  the 
  outlying 
  spurs 
  of 
  the 
  Tell 
  plateau 
  are 
  left 
  behind, 
  the 
  

   road 
  terminates, 
  and 
  we 
  enter 
  on 
  the 
  great 
  plain 
  covered 
  with 
  

   Artimisia, 
  Sueda, 
  Salicornia, 
  Chenopodium, 
  and 
  other 
  salt-loving 
  

   plants, 
  perhaps 
  indicating 
  by 
  their 
  presence 
  a 
  comparatively 
  recent 
  

   marine 
  submergence. 
  The 
  uniformity 
  of 
  the 
  plain 
  is 
  only 
  broken 
  

   by 
  an 
  occasional 
  low 
  escarpment 
  of 
  gypseous 
  and 
  variegated 
  marls, 
  

   which 
  are 
  well 
  exposed 
  near 
  the 
  caravansary 
  of 
  Am 
  Oussera. 
  

  

  These 
  marls 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  inferior 
  to 
  the 
  fossiliferous 
  beds 
  of 
  

   Boukhari 
  and 
  the 
  Tell 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  shrouded 
  over 
  

   in 
  the 
  plain 
  by 
  a 
  deposit 
  of 
  grey 
  loam, 
  which, 
  throughout 
  the 
  district 
  

   included 
  in 
  the 
  section, 
  seems 
  to 
  mark 
  the 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  Sahara 
  sub- 
  

   mergence. 
  This 
  loam, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  older 
  beds 
  that 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  

   surface, 
  are 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  coated 
  with 
  a 
  calcareous 
  surface-crust 
  

   similar 
  to 
  that 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  Marocco 
  plain, 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  which 
  

   was, 
  I 
  believe, 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  sun, 
  in 
  alternation 
  with 
  

   heavy 
  rain, 
  quickly 
  drawing 
  up 
  and 
  evaporating 
  from 
  the 
  substratum 
  

   water 
  containing 
  calcareous 
  matter 
  in 
  solution. 
  

  

  The 
  Djebel 
  Sahari. 
  — 
  The 
  low 
  -level 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  Northern 
  Sahara 
  is 
  

   crossed, 
  in 
  a 
  direction 
  nearly 
  east 
  and 
  west, 
  by 
  a 
  single 
  range 
  of 
  hills 
  

   known 
  as 
  the 
  Djebel 
  Sahari, 
  towards 
  which 
  the 
  plain 
  rises 
  from 
  north 
  

   and 
  south 
  to 
  the 
  third 
  caravansary 
  of 
  Guelt-el-stel, 
  at 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  

   2900 
  feet. 
  The 
  Djebel 
  Sahari, 
  which 
  are 
  probably 
  700 
  or 
  800 
  feet 
  

   high 
  and 
  3500 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea-level, 
  consist 
  of 
  a 
  steep 
  anticlinal 
  

   of 
  hard 
  yellow 
  sandstone, 
  rising 
  up 
  from 
  beneath 
  the 
  gypseous 
  marls 
  

   here 
  and 
  there 
  isolated 
  as 
  dome-shaped 
  masses, 
  with 
  escarpments 
  

   facing 
  both 
  north 
  and 
  south. 
  Denudation 
  has 
  sculptured 
  the 
  range 
  

   into 
  a 
  curious 
  mammillated 
  series 
  of 
  hills, 
  separated 
  by 
  deep 
  indenta- 
  

  

  